Such timepieces have been known for a long time, in particular within the field of complicated watches, such as repeater watches or grand strike watches. For better comprehension of the state of the art in the field of complicated watches, reference can be made to the work of François Lecoultre entitled, “Les montres compliquées” (ISBN 2-88175-000-1), which comprises in particular several chapters relating to watches fitted with a striking mechanism (pages 97 to 205).
Among watches with a striking mechanism, the grand strike watch comprises an automatic release mode and a manual release mode for the striking mechanism. For automatic release, the motion work drives in rotation a release cam in the form of a star with four arms that cooperates with the release lever so as to wind it and release it in succession, at a determined moment, which releases the striking mechanism via the click. For manual release, an additional click is provided, which meshes with the detent wheel, when it is activated by a manual control member, so as to release the striking mechanism.
It is an object of the present invention to simplify the striking mechanism by omitting the click used for manual release.